Hi everyone,
Here are your practice assignments for this week:
Will
Recommended minutes to practice: 15-20 minutes per day
What to practice: #1-12 from the “Lesson 4” sheet that Pino gave you and the verse beat from Arabella
How to practice it most effectively: Take time to read carefully each of the exercises from Lesson 4. Count them out loud and then play them slowly. Once you can do it slowly, then speed it up little by little. With the verse beat from Arabella, focus on keeping a steady quarter-note pulse on the hi-hat while playing the eighth-note rhythm on the bass drum.
Elliot
Recommended minutes to practice: 10-15 minutes per day
What to practice: The drum beats and accent patterns that are written down in your book.
How to practice it most effectively: Remember what we talked about in your lesson. It’s important to read every note carefully and to be able to count the rhythms out loud before you try to play them. If you can’t count it, then you can’t play it. Also, don’t try to play too fast. You are much more successful when you start slowly. Then, once the beat feels secure, then try speeding it up.
Alexy
Recommended minutes to practice: 20-30 minutes per day
What to practice: “When I Come Around” by Green Day.
How to practice it most effectively: You can play the whole song now. Continue to work on the fills and transitions within the song. Also, be careful not to skip a beat in the Chorus. Listen to the song several times this week and practice playing along with it. It is important to be able to stay in time with the song.
Oscar
Recommended minutes to practice: 20-30 minutes per day
What to practice: The second section of Hungarian Dance No. 5.
How to practice it most effectively: When you practice, be sure to look at the sheet music that you have. Don’t just guess at the notes and rhythms. Get into the habit of reading what’s on the page and figuring out how it goes on your own. Be careful to observe which notes are rolled and which ones aren’t. Also, remember the tempo change in the 5th bar of this section and the “a tempo” in bar 7.
Nate M.
Recommended minutes to practice: 20-30 minutes per day
What to practice: “Spirit of Radio” by Rush.
How to practice it most effectively: You’ve basically got all the elements of the song now. Spend time this week running through the song and focus on really staying in time with the groove. You don’t have to play every single note that Neil Peart plays… it’s more important to maintain the groove even if you have to drop a couple of notes.
Emily
Recommended minutes to practice: 20-30 minutes per day
What to practice: The open hi-hat beats, the fills, and that one tricky section of your song.
How to practice it most effectively: You’re doing really great with everything that I throw at you. Keep working on that section of the song slowly and try to keep everything in time. If you can play it in time then eventually you’ll be able to play it faster. Also, spend some time this week coming up with your own fill ideas that we can practice next week.
Nate O.
Recommended minutes to practice: 20-30 minutes per day
What to practice: The beat from “Homework” by BSlime.
How to practice it most effectively: Practice this beat the same way we did in your lesson. First play just the bass drum rhythm by itself, then play it together with snare drum. Then take the snare drum out and play the bass drum rhythm together with the hi-hat. Finally, add all three parts together and see if you can play this consistently. It’s important that all three parts lock in together and that the bass drum rhythm stays the same. You can add extra notes on the snare drum, but only if you can maintain the bass drum rhythm.